Physical Description: .08 Linear Feet(1 folder)

Language of Material: English.

This collection contains letters from Pvt. Joseph Coryell of the Union Army to his wife Sarah in Michigan during the Civil War. The bulk of Joseph's letters describe his unit's slow march from Camp Lyon in Virginia, near Washington DC, toward Richmond. In his letter dated September 9, 1862, he describe hearing reports of the Battle of Bull Run. He tells Sarah of the many reports he has heard in camp as to the progress of the war, such as hearing that Stonewall Jackson made it into Maryland with 50,000 men and that McClellan was pursuing them with 200,000. He later acknowledges this may not have been true: "The news came in here last night that McClellan had disarmed forty thousand rebels yesterday but I am afraid it is like a good many other reports we hear, without truth."

Coryell often writes of having poor health and being afflicted, along with many other men, with dysentery. He also laments his false impressions of the war effort. He tells Sarah he enlisted because he thought the South was on its last legs and that the Union army only needed reinforcements, and was extremely disappointed to find this was not the case (Letter dated 10/15/1862). He also writes of the destruction and desolation that the armies leave behind them (Letter dated 11/07/1862). He acknowledges that his patriotism is waning and that he only wants it to end, regardless of the outcome (Letter dated December 21, 1862).

He also addresses Sarah's concerns such as her loneliness without him and her obligations on keeping their home running. He refers to her with the nickname "Sackey."

Physical Description: .025 Linear Feet(1 folder)

Language of Material: English.

This series contains letters to and from Sarah Coryell and her friends and family during the Civil War. This includes a letter from a regiment Chaplain informing her of her husband's death. The Chaplain also describes how and where they buried him (letter dated May 12, 1863). Several of the letters and messages of condolence and others concern her late husband's estate.